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Dorset best place in country for motorbike parking
Research by Bikesure found that the county is top ranked when it comes to dedicated motorcycle parking spaces.
Bikers in Dorset can celebrate two pieces of good news this summer: the county is ranked best in the South West for number of designated spaces it provides for licensed motorbikes in council car parks, and the South West as a whole is the best region in England when it comes to motorbike parking.
According to research by UK motorcycle insurance broker Bikesure, Dorset is statistically the easiest place for riders to find a space that is reserved for them.
Across the South West, just 696 of 140,852 total parking spaces in council car parks are dedicated to motorcycles — only 0.49 per cent. However, those motorcycle-specific spaces can fit approximately 2,338 bikes — 1.29 per cent of the 181,600 registered motorcycles in the South West. Despite this apparent shortfall in the ratio of dedicated spaces to registered bikes, the South West has the best provision in the country regarding the number of bays in authorities’ off-street parking facilities that are allocated exclusively to riders.
Also, the South West is 13 per cent above the national average when it comes to providing free parking for bikers; in fact, 92 per cent of districts don’t charge.
Dorset has the most areas reserved for bikers with 199 spaces, 58 more than Somerset, the next best county in the region. And those spaces provide room for the most bikes, at 597 — 113 more than Devon.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council provide 129 of Dorset’s spaces. This is the largest number of bike bays within one council in the South West, accommodating a huge 387 motorbikes.
Data was obtained from 362 authorities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It showed that only 0.76 per cent of the 1.4m registered motorcycles in the UK are able to park in dedicated spaces for two-wheel motorists. Across the UK, councils provide parking spaces for every 30 in 1,000 cars, but only seven in 1,000 motorcycles — over four times less.
Rob Balls, Bikesure general manager, said: “Our findings lay bare the reality that UK motorcyclists are being undoubtedly overlooked when it comes to the safe and secure parking of their machines.
“It’s concerning to us that, despite there being over 1.4m licensed bikes on our roads, our councils have made provisions for fewer than 12,000 of them. This just doesn’t feel good enough.
“Things may not look as bad in the South West as they do elsewhere, but it still doesn’t make for the greatest reading either. Regardless of the figures, we believe that riders deserve the same consideration and consistency as is given to car drivers.”
To see how motorbike parking in the South West compares to the rest of the UK, visit bikesure.co.uk/digital/motorcycle-parking-spaces.
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